"Waste Not, Want Not" and Make it Delicious!
By Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali,
Author of Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175
Regional Recipes

There is no more appropriate time than
now to think about how and why we cook. Food is a way of connecting
with the people who surround us. Through it, we communicate emotions
like love, compassion and understanding, and there is no better
opportunity to communicate with our children than at the table. It's
where we can discuss our values of life that are important to us as
individuals, as a family and as a part of the world we live in.

As overconsumption and greed have come
to haunt us, now is a time for reflection. We should be looking back
at the generations before us to understand their approach to the
table. Growing food, shepherding animals, foraging for the gifts
of nature is all part of respecting food. Nothing needs to be
wasted. Bread can be recycled and used in soups, casseroles,
lasagnas and desserts. Water is carefully conserved as in the pasta
recipe I share below where the same water in which vegetables are
cooked is used to cook the pasta that follows, and then that is saved
for soups or for making risotto.

When one respects the food we prepare,
it also leads to a more sensible and balanced intake of proteins,
legumes and vegetables.

So "waste not, want not" and make
it delicious!

Excerpt from Lidia Cooks from the
Heart of Italy (Alfred A. Knopf, 2009)

FRESH CAVATELLI WITH CAULIFLOWERMaccarun ch'I Hiucc

Serves 6

Cauliflower is one of my favorite
vegetables, and I regret that many people don't sufficiently
appreciate its unique flavor and nutritional value. This is not the
case in Molise, where it is cooked often and creatively, as
exemplified by the following two simple vegetarian pasta dishes. The
first recipe, maccarun ch'i hiucc, is zesty with garlic and
peperoncino.

Fill the large pot with salted
water (at least 6 quarts water with 1 tablespoon salt), and heat to a
boil.

Pour the olive oil into the
skillet, set over medium-high heat, and scatter in the sliced
garlic. Let the garlic start to sizzle, then toss in the peperoncino
and parsley; stir and cook for a minute. Ladle in a cup of the pasta
cooking water, stir well, and adjust the heat to keep the liquid in
the skillet simmering and reducing gradually while you cook the
cauliflower and pasta.

With the pasta water at a rolling
boil, drop in the cauliflower florets, and cook them for about 3
minutes, until barely tender. Drop in the cavatelli, stir, and return
the water quickly to a boil. Cook another 4 to 5 minutes, until the
cauliflower is fully tender and the pasta is al dente (if you are
using dried pasta, it will, of course, take longer).

Lift out the florets and cavatelli
with a spider or strainer, drain briefly, and spill them into the
skillet. Toss well, to coat all the pasta and vegetable pieces with
the garlicky dressing, then turn off the heat, sprinkle over the
skillet the grated cheese, and toss again. Heap the cauliflower and
cavatelli in warm bowls, and serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE BREAD PARFAITPane di Cioccolato al Cucchiaio

Serves 6

This recalls for me the chocolate-and-bread sandwiches that
sometimes were my lunch, and always a special
treat. And it is another inventive way surplus is used in Umbrian
cuisine, with leftover country bread serving as the foundation of an
elegant layered dessert. Though it is soaked with chocolate and
espresso sauce and buried in whipped cream, the bread doesn't
disintegrate, and provides a pleasing textural contrast in every
heavenly spoonful.

8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet
chocolate, finely chopped

8 ounces country-style white bread,
crusts removed

½ cup freshly brewed espresso

2 tablespoons dark rum

2 tablespoons sugar

1 ½ cups chilled heavy cream

1 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Recommended equipment: A large
rimmed tray or baking sheet, such as a half-sheet pan (12 by 18
inches); a spouted measuring cup, 1 pint or larger; 6 parfait glasses
or wineglasses, preferably balloon-shaped

Put the chopped chocolate in a bowl set
in a pan of hot (not boiling) water. When the chocolate begins to
melt, stir until completely smooth. Keep it warm, over the water, off
the heat.

Slice the bread into ½-inch-thick
slices, and lay them flat in one layer, close together, on the tray
or baking sheet.

Pour the warm espresso into a spouted
measuring cup, stir in the rum and sugar until sugar dissolves, then
stir in half the melted chocolate. Pour the sauce all over the bread
slices, then flip them over and turn them on the tray, to make sure
all the surfaces are coated. Let the bread absorb the sauce for a few
minutes.

Meanwhile, whip the cream until soft
peaks form, by hand or with an electric mixer.

To assemble the parfaits: Break the
bread into 1-inch pieces. Use half the pieces to make the bottom
parfait layer in the six serving glasses, dropping an equal amount of
chocolatey bread into each. Scrape up some of the unabsorbed
chocolate sauce that remains on the baking sheet, and drizzle a bit
over the bread layers. Next, drop a layer of whipped cream in the
glasses, using up half the cream. Top the cream layer with toasted
almonds, using half the nuts.

Repeat the layering sequence: drop more
soaked bread into each glass, drizzle over it the chocolate sauce
from the tray and the remaining melted chocolate. Dollop another
layer of whipped cream in the glasses, using it all up, and sprinkle
the remaining almonds on top of each parfait. This dessert is best
when served immediately while the melted chocolate is still warm and
runny.

Author BioLidia Matticchio Bastianich, coauthor of Lidia Cooks from
the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipe, is the author
of five previous
books, four of them accompanied by nationally syndicated public
television series. She is the owner of the New York City restaurant
Felidia (among others), and she lectures on and demonstrates Italian
cooking throughout the country. She lives on Long Island, and can be
reached at her Web site, www.LidiasItaly.com

Tanya Bastianich Manuali, Lidia's daughter and coauthor of Lidia
Cooks
from
the
Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipe,
received her Ph.D.
in Italian Renaissance art history from Oxford University. Since 1996
she has led food/wine/art tours of Italy. She lives with her husband
and children on Long Island.